Forearms
by cszimm
Summary: Kakashi is amused by Sakura's drunken confession: she has a thing for his forearms. A playful story about the things Sakura likes and dislikes about the men in her life.
1. Chapter 1

Sakura always sat to his right. Kakashi had noticed she made a point of this, obviously so that she could see his normal eye and better read his facial expressions. She never had to fight for the seat of honor, of course, because Sai could read more body language than any of them and had no use for it, Naruto had yet to figure out the same trick, and Sasuke simply didn't care. He'd grown used to her company and as he sipped his sake—through his mask because he was in public and yes, it was perfectly sanitary, thank-you-very-much—he supposed it would feel wrong if her head of pretty pink hair was not by his side. His right side, to be exact.

Having completed a simple B-ranked recon mission two days early, they'd decided to treat themselves to a stay at a bathhouse about eight hours from Konoha. Their four-man team excluded Sasuke this time; he'd disappeared on an ANBU mission a day before their departure. Rare was the mission that all five of them took together, as they each had other commitments within the village. It was just as well; missions were always easier when there were only four of them. Not that it mattered which four, as they all worked together seamlessly, but with four they split more easily into teams, for everything from marking targets to sharing rooms.

Although he would have to be honest, missions that didn't include Sakura were the worst. She was the one that kept them all in line—he was humble enough to admit she held the same power over him as she did over Naruto, Sasuke, and Sai. Without her the boys bickered and generally fell into arguments more quickly. When it got bad Kakashi and Sasuke sulked, while Sai withdrew from the group completely. Naruto loudly made passive-aggressive comments any chance he could, just to incite a fist fight. Yes, things were much more pleasant when Sakura was around.

Suffice to say, Kakashi was extremely pleased to be enjoying a warm breeze on the balcony of their adjoined hotel rooms, drinking with his teammates and generally having a good time. Nights like these away from the village were rare, but always treasured. They'd challenged him to a drinking contest two hours ago, having realized that despite having been of legal drinking age themselves for a few years, they'd never seen Kakashi drunk.

That was because he had the talent of holding his liquor _very_ well. Being Genma's consummate wingman had that effect on you.

Sai had given up around twenty minutes ago and retreated to the room he was sharing with Naruto. He was probably the only sensible one this evening, but, _meh_ , it was fine. The mission hadn't been difficult or urgent, and Tsunade wouldn't begrudge their absence if they paid out of their own pockets.

Ah, the perks of being close to the Hokage.

Sakura was steadily becoming more and more intoxicated, but she had been pacing herself well. She was likely metabolizing some of the alcohol in order to stay in the contest longer, but that didn't matter; he was still more sober than she. As he looked to his left he realized Naruto was slumped over and would likely start drooling any minute.

"Naruto!" Kakashi called with a _thump_ to the back of said-drunk's head.

The blonde jerked with a snort that sent Sakura into a fit of giggles, and after looking around in confusion for a few seconds he realized what had happened.

"Dammit! I thought for sure I'd outlast Sakura!"

"Nope, you lose Naruto!" Sakura replied, clearly giddy at having made it to the final round.

"Awww, Sakura!"

"Go to bed, Naruto," she giggled more softly this time. "And drink some water or you'll wake up with a headache."

Naruto rolled his eyes, which because he was drunk was more like rolling his whole head, and gave them a wave before brazenly giving Sakura a sloppy peck on the cheek and stumbling inside.

Kakashi watched this scene in amusement, content to be left alone with Sakura.

"He doesn't still hold a candle for you, does he?" Kakashi questioned after the balcony door slid shut again. Sakura was more subdued now that Naruto had gone, but Kakashi could see a glint in her eyes that assured him she was still having fun.

"Ha! No, he's head over heels for Hinata, and she's been in love with him since we were about six."

Ah, yes, that's right. But the way she said it was incredulous, like it was unusual for childhood feelings to have remained so strong.

"Hm. I seem to recall a certain pink-haired kunoichi having a similar problem with a certain duck-haired shinobi."

He'd poked the bear, and he knew it was risky, but how could she not see the similarities between herself and Hinata? Well, apart from the fact that Hinata had snagged her crush and Sakura had not. Sasuke was a playboy, and Sakura knew it, but he was discreet enough that for some reason Sakura had not given up on him.

Kakashi got lucky, it seemed, since Sakura was still smiling. Thank kami for sake.

"That's different!" she exclaimed, happy to talk about Sasuke. "We've been on the same team since we were twelve, even when he was gone he was still a part of Team Seven! He'll come around." Her tone was nostalgic now, as if she was recalling fond memories.

Kakashi shrugged in an _if you say so_ fashion. He really didn't care to talk about Sasuke. Although, he was a bit curious.

He refilled Sakura's cup and made sure she had drained it, before he refilled it again and asked, "What exactly is it that you see in him again?" It was a genuine question, one which he had often wondered but never felt comfortable enough to voice until now.

He expected Sakura to excitedly launch into a spiel about how handsome Sasuke was and how he was such a dedicated shinobi to have regained a place in Konoha's ranks. Instead, he was met with a surprising silence.

Kakashi watched as Sakura's head tilted and her eyes became unfocused in concentration.

She downed her cup of sake, and then refilled her own glass again. That cup was gone too, before she finally answered.

"You know what! I don't know!"

She dissolved into a fit of giggles at this before continuing.

"Isn't that funny, Kakashi! I can't even explain why I like him so much!"

He laughed with her, the alcohol getting to him too, and happy that she could laugh at herself instead of getting mad at him. But Sakura was really on a roll now.

"I don't know." She shook her head sloppily. "I guess I liked the tall-dark-and-handsome thing. But you know he's really not that tall. Just average, _haha_! And his clothes—I just—I can't get over that dumb outfit he wore when he left Konoha. Did you know that Ino and I forced him to go shopping with us when he came back? Kakashi, the look on his face when we kidnapped him from his apartment was _priceless_!"

Sakura fell into more giggles, and Kakashi admired the rosiness of her cheeks and the way her flushed skin complimented her hair.

"Oh, yes, I'm sure that was…priceless." He supplied, amused that the dam had opened and Sakura was being so forthcoming.

"We were the ones that suggested he grow out his hair, too! He _is_ rather handsome, and he knows it. For having once said he wanted to rebuild his clan, he sure doesn't seem like he wants to settle down. He doesn't make any _sense_ , Kakashi! He's so _strange_!"

"Maybe he's just sowing his wild oats?"

"Ppppbbtthh!" Sakura blew a raspberry. "Puh-lease. Like Sasuke would be dumb enough to do that! It would be funny, though, don't you think, to see five women all giving birth to Uchiha babies on the same day? Ha ha!"

She paused a minute before wrinkling her nose.

"Actually, no! That wouldn't be funny, that would be _way_ too much _work_! Get it? Because I would have to deliver all of them! How can I be in five places at once?"

"Shadow clones?" He suggested. Actually, yeah, that was a valid point…why _didn't_ medics ever use shadow clones? Maybe not for surgery, but for seeing patients?

Sakura was laughing again, and this time is was at him.

"Silly Kakashi! You can't use clones because there's no way you'd make it through your whole shift if you used all your chakra on clones all day! Except maybe Naruto. Oh kami, can you imagine a hospital full of doctor Narutos?"

Sakura truly looked horrified for a few seconds, and Kakashi couldn't help but laugh at her expression. She was quite the loquacious drunk when you got her going. He'd have to file that away for future reference, and he was having such fun egging her on. They'd both been continuing to steadily drink—they were on their fourth bottle now, between the two of them—and there was no sign of them stopping. Sakura's laughs finally tapered off and she lazily ran a finger around the rim of her cup, a contended smile on her lips.

Kakashi was still curious, and he decided to press his luck a bit more. After draining his cup he casually inquired, "So, Sakura, if Sasuke isn't your ideal man anymore, what _are_ you looking for?" He schooled his face—his one eye that she could see—into a neutral expression in the chance that she questioned his motives for asking such a thing.

She paused again to refill and drain her cup.

"Four-arms!" she declared with a confident nod, slamming the cup to the table as she did so. She was clearly slurring her words now, because although it sounded like she said "four arms," he was fairly certain she meant…forearms?

Kakashi laughed heartily and shook his head at her. Oh, this was too easy. She was so easy to play with when she was drunk. This was _way_ better than being Genma's wingman.

"Four arms? And just where have you met men that have more than two arms?"

It took her a second, but she followed his line of questioning.

"No! _Forearms_! Like the radius and the ulna!"

She was gesturing vaguely with one hand to her other lower arm, and it was a good thing, too, because how the hell did she remember words like _radius_ and _ulna_ when she was drunk? And furthermore, how did she expect him to know what those were when they were sober, let alone when _he_ was drunk?

"So what you're saying is, you think bones are sexy?"

"No! I just like the way they look! All strong and firm, especially when they move!"

She was speaking earnestly, like she truly believed what she was saying, and Kakashi was absolutely _dying_ trying to suppress his laughter. When he finally couldn't hold it in a any more he guffawed, and Sakura finally caught on to what she had said.

"Don't you dare turn everything I say into a perverted joke, Hatake!"

"But Sakura," he managed to get out. Oh kami was he crying he was laughing so hard? "But Sakura, you said it not me!"

"Stop it, you perv!" She was admonishing him, but she was laughing too. "I mean it! Have you ever noticed what your arms look like when you throw a kunai? With your gloves and your rolled up sleeves—they're perfect! That's what I want!"

Oh, _this_ was priceless. Sweet Sakura had a thing for his _forearms_. Was it weird that he found that a little kinky? Okay, maybe _kinky_ was too strong a word, but definitely… _unusual_. Intriguing and unusual and it piqued his interest.

"So explain this to me," he kept going, talking around the smile that refused to dim, "What exactly is so great about my forearms?"

Sakura was happy to oblige.

"You know! They're just so perfect, all muscly and everything. I mean all shinobi have nice muscles but there's something about the shape, and the rolled up sleeves. They're very… _capable_. Attached to the most dangerous ninja in the village—that helps a lot too, ya know."

She was drunkenly prattling on about him, now, and Kakashi couldn't help but be surprised at how much she had to say about him—and it was flattering.

"I mean forget Sasuke, you're like the textbook example of tall-dark-and-handsome—and yes, your hair is light but I'm talking in that bad-boy kind of dark. Dangerous. With forearms that make a girl feel safe, not threatened, you know?"

No. No he did not know…was Sakura…was Sakura _attracted_ to him?

"You're quite capable yourself," he tried to backpedal, "you could throw me over a tree if you wanted with your own forearms."

Wait, what was he saying? Why would he discourage her from listing the things she found attractive about him?

"It's not just that, silly! It's the whole package! That's what Sasuke doesn't have—the package."

"Oh I'm pretty sure he has one of those—"

She stomped her foot on the ground, and spider cracks appeared in the concrete. Damn. Maybe he shouldn't egg her on if he didn't want the balcony to collapse beneath them. Of course then he could save her and wrap her in his _forearms_ that she seemed to adore so much…

"As I was saying," she paused for effect and gave her best drunken-glare, which looked more like an adorable, glassy-eyed pout. "You, Kakashi, have the whole package. Despite your emotional baggage you're pretty much perfect. Handsome and charming and well-respected and all that."

 _Emotional baggage_? What the hell did that mean? He didn't have _emotional baggage_. That was like when people had crazy ex-wives or a herd of children from a previous relationship. That wasn't Kakashi. Just because he lost people that he loved at a very young age and then also had to kill countless others, also at a young age, didn't mean he had _baggage_. Granted, those same circumstances also caused him to limit the number of meaningful relationships he had, and all of those so far were strictly platonic. So Sakura had a point. Okay, so maybe he had _some_ baggage.

And she still thought he was perfect? Handsome and charming? Huh. Interesting.

"So they need to have the package," Kakashi confirmed.

"Yup."

"And the forearms too?"

"Definitely the forearms. I just need to find someone like you," she concluded resolutely.

Kakashi was fascinated with the kunoichi next to him. She was beautiful and powerful and endearing and how had he never noticed her before?

 _Well you could just have me._

The thought flitted through his brain before he even recognized it for what it was. He was attracted to Sakura as much as he was to him. And this wasn't the lusty-feeling he felt every now and again—this was genuine care for the woman beside him. How _novel_. He couldn't remember feeling the desire to have an actual relationship with anyone ever before. This was new. And addicting. He felt lighthearted and _hopeful_ and he wanted _more_ of it.

Kami, he'd have to be careful not to go soft. He had a reputation as a deadly assassin to uphold, after all.

The object of his new affections, he noticed, had finally worn herself out. She was flopped back into the chair, her hair splayed messily in front of her face. A pink tendril fluttered in front of her open mouth with each breath she exhaled.

Kakashi grinned before lifting her easily into his arms and carrying her into the room, placing her on one of the twin sized beds she had claimed upon their earlier arrival. She would likely not remember most of this in the morning. He'd have to remind her on their trek back to Konoha tomorrow, and he was looking forward to it.

* * *

When Sakura awoke, it was to the annoying chirp of birds outside the window and sunlight streaming across her face. She had seriously slacked on metabolizing the alcohol last night, instead electing to let herself get plastered. Maybe not the best idea she'd ever had. She remembered Naruto going to bed, and she remembered Kakashi asking about Sasuke. The rest was hazy, but she remembered laughing a lot with Kakashi so at least she knew they'd had a good night.

Next she saw a mug of coffee materialize in front of her face, and it took her a second too long to realize it was being held by an arm. Kakashi's arm, to be exact.

Oh, kami, did coffee smell heavenly.

"Morning, Sakura-chan."

What was that. That tone. That _I know something you don't know_ tone in Kakashi's voice. She looked up to his face for confirmation. Yup. He was grinning like a mad man under that damned mask, but instead of his trademark eye-crinkle, he sported a mischievous glint in his dark charcoal eye. His hair fell roguishly over his closed Sharingan and Sakura felt her stomach flip a little. She quickly sat up and took the coffee gratefully from his hands.

"Morning." She replied warily. Ah, there was the eye-crinkle.

She watched him like a hawk for the next hour or so, as they joined Naruto and Sai for the last leg of their journey home. She walked on Kakashi's right side, as usual; she liked being able to see this small part of his face. It was amazing how many expressions he could exude with just one eye.

Today he seemed shifty, almost fidgety. This was highly unusual. Kakashi Hatake did not _fidget_. He'd unrolled and re-rerolled his sleeves twice since they'd left the town, and kept flexing his hands into fists. The leather of his gloves creaked as it stretched, drawing her attention each time. He even went to far as to massage his arms, like he was sore from some strenuous activity.

"Yo, Sensei!" Naruto called from ahead of them. "You okay? You're acting weird."

Cue the eye-crinkle from the Copy-nin. Sakura had the distinct feeling of a trap closing shut around her.

"Of course, Naruto! Just making sure my forearms stay strong and firm and perfect. Carrying all this emotional baggage around really takes its toll, you know."

Naruto gave Kakashi a confused and judgmental stare before turning back around, muttering something about old men going senile. Sakura missed all this, however, as she had stopped dead in her tracks.

Forearms. Emotional baggage. _Forearms_. This was vaguely familiar…

Oh no. Oh hell no. She did _not_ tell Kakashi how much she liked his forearms last night when she was drunk!

He had slowed his pace and was ten feet in front of her now, looking back at her and smirking like the devil.

Oh, kami she did.

Pieces were coming back to her now—she hadn't been able to say what she liked about Sasuke, so Kakashi had asked what she did look for in a man, and she had told him! She could feel the blush spreading across her face as the memories sharpened. She told him _everything_. About her strange attraction to forearms—Kakashi's forearms, to be exact—and her secret belief that he was actually pretty perfect. Oh! Then he had gone and made a _dick joke_ , twisting her words and making her seem like she was a pervert like him! But even as she thought about it she had to admit she had opened the door and walked right into that one.

"Come on, Sakura-chan!" Kakashi called, now a good fifty feet ahead. "We have to make it back by sunset or Tsunade won't care that we've got such a nice _package_ for her!"

Oh, he was _so_ going to get it now. She was going to take his _forearms_ and use them to swing him around and launch him like a track-and-field hammer.

"What the hell are you talking about, Kakashi?" Naruto chimed in a again, "We don't have any packages for Baa-chan, just intel!"

Kakashi was ignoring him to provoke him more, and Sakura was incensed as well. He was egging her on in front of Naruto! Was he just trying to embarrass her?

But something dawned on her as her anger simmered. Kakashi had egged her on all night, and he was continuing now. If he was uncomfortable with what she'd said—with what she'd _confessed_ —he would be pointedly ignoring her or at the very least pretending he didn't remember it either.

Kakashi…Kakashi had laughed with her. Encouraged her to keep singing his praises. He had been _flattered_.

This was an entirely different game, now. It was highly likely that Kakashi was attracted to her. But true to form, he wasn't going to outright tell her or sit her down for a heart to heart. No, the Copy-nin was much more subtle and she needed to respond in kind.

She casually jogged forward to join him, and hooked her hand through the crook of his elbow.

"Sorry _Sensei_ , I was admiring the view."

Because she was walking on his right, she could just make out the pink tinge that graced his cheek above the hem of his mask. She ran her hand firmly down his forearm and the blush deepened.

Oh yes, this was going to be wonderful.

* * *

Although I'm quite happy with this as a one-shot, I'm tempted (read: being harassed by my partner-in-crime PaperGangsta, haha) to write one more chapter. Thoughts?


	2. Chapter 2: Games

A/N: I was floored by the response that _Forearms_ received! Thank you so much to each and every one of you who read it, and especially those that left such wonderful reviews! In coming up with ideas for another chapter, I couldn't decide on just one, so this fic will have at least one more chapter after this one. (Yay!) Chapter 3 will include some Team Seven shenanigans, so look forward to that! I'm also working on a longer multi-chapter fic that I think will be titled _Of Significance_ , which I hope to start publishing before Thanksgiving. I would very much appreciate it if you keep and eye out for that and let me know what you think of it! Thanks again, you are all wonderful people for letting me share my plot bunnies with you!

* * *

Games

* * *

For three weeks Sakura engaged in an escalating game with Kakashi. Neither had yet to make a move to anything official, but their unspoken objective was to rile the other up, while keeping their friends and colleagues largely oblivious. Not that they cared who saw them together; the challenge of keeping a private liaison between them just upped the ante and made their game more fun.

Sakura was pretty sure she was winning at this point, having insisted last week on performing Kakashi's annual physical a good three months early. There was nothing like a too-tight nurse's uniform to excite a pervert like him. It was an especially effective strategy when she let him catch her checking him out with a very unprofessional gaze, and peppered him with lingering touches to innocuous body parts that weren't altogether necessary. She was just sorry she hadn't been able to come up with a reasonable excuse to make him take off his pants.

Currently, Kakashi was sitting next to her in a booth at a popular bar in Konoha, with a group of their mutual friends gathered around. She was drinking white wine tonight, a new favorite of hers, and curiously Kakashi had chosen a dark red wine over his normal beer or sake. They had been here a while and Sakura was on her third glass, but she was being extra certain to metabolize the alcohol to keep her wits about her; she was expecting Kakashi to retaliate at any time.

She was also fairly certain Kakashi was buying her drinks. She didn't really know for sure, but Kakashi had been the only one there when she'd first ordered, and a new glass appeared in front of her whenever she needed one without her ever having handed over any money. It was sweet, really. The entire time Sakura had known him the man skipped out on dinner bills and bar tabs as often as he could, and now he seemed to be willingly paying for her drinks. It was a little thing that actually meant something to Sakura because it showed that he cared, and she fought down a grin at the thought.

A raucous cheer from their friends went up and stirred Sakura from her reflection on Kakashi and their game. It appeared that Genma and Ino were having their own contest, albeit a much more public one.

"What's going on, I must have missed something?" she laughed and asked Kakashi.

He turned away from the spectacle to face her with an amused grin.

"Genma bet Ino he could chug a beer faster than she could tie a knot in a cherry stem with her tongue. He lost."

Sakura snorted incredulously and took a sip of her drink.

"That's her favorite bar trick. She's trying to seduce him."

"I'm pretty sure it's working…" Kakashi mused as Genma challenged Ino to a rematch.

"Not surprising," Sakura deadpanned as she watched Genma make his way to the bar for a fresh beer and a maraschino cherry. "They've been openly flirting for weeks."

She couldn't suppress a gasp as a hand made its way onto her knee under the table.

"So secretive flirting is better, hmm?"

His voice was dark and far too close to her ear, and his hand was warm on her skin. Sakura refused to give him the satisfaction of falling prey so easily to his next move in their game, and she resolutely took a long sip from her glass.

"Oh look!" she said brightly. "Genma's back!" She made a point of smirking at Kakashi before directing her attention past him to the end of their table, where Genma and Ino were set to face off again. The entire group was all laughing and egging them on, caught up in the antics of the two shameless ninja. Just as the challenge was about to begin, Sakura chanced a look back at Kakashi, whose hand still rested on her knee.

And Sakura froze in her place, her wine glass half way to her lips again.

Kakashi was staring at her with a predatory grin on his face, a look that said _you're mine now_ , and, most importantly… _no mask._ His eyes never left hers as he took a slow, deliberate sip of his wine. She watched with fascination as his lips parted and his head tilted back slightly to drink; the movement drew her eyes to his exposed Adam's apple. Before Sakura could react any further, his mask was being replaced and she vaguely registered another round of cheers from her friends.

Apparently Ino had won again, but Sakura no longer cared. No one else had seen. She had just seen Kakashi's face—no, he had deliberately _revealed_ his face to her—and no one else had seen him do it! She was completely stunned into silence.

"Sakura-chan!" She heard Naruto call from across the table. A hand was being waved in front of her face and she swatted it away. "You spaced out on us!"

She spluttered, embarrassingly, and tried to defend herself for acting strangely.

"I just saw Kakashi's face!" she blurted.

"Yeah right, Sakura," Naruto laughed and rolled his eyes.

"It's true! Kakashi, tell him it's true!"

Silence.

She turned to look at the Copy-Nin next to her, who was putting on his most innocent act.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sakura," he replied smoothly. "Is the wine getting to you so quickly?"

 _Oh, so this is how it was going to be, huh?_ She was flabbergasted. The infuriating man had just shown her his face after years of hiding it from all of them, and he wasn't even going to own up to it! She realized, then, what his intention had been. He had just taken the lead in their little game! By showing his face to her in this public setting he had denied her the chance to properly react to it. Instead of it being some intimate encounter or the result of a clever prank of Naruto's, he'd just taken down the piece of fabric when no one was looking, like it was perfectly normal. On purpose. For her eyes only. It was basically Kakashi's non-sexual equivalent to presenting himself…

Sakura mentally shook herself at her turn of thoughts and resolved to carry on normally for the rest of the evening. If this was the way he wanted to play it, she would do her best to go along with it. He may have won, but she would try not to give him the satisfaction of seeing her squirm more than she had already.

The conversation seemed to have returned to normal, and Sakura noted that Genma and Ino were conspicuously absent. What hadn't changed, though, was Kakashi's hand on her leg. His fingers were now tracing light circles around her knee and up to the hem of her black shorts.

"You know what I like about this wine, Sakura?" Kakashi asked as he swirled the ruby liquid around his the glass, eyeing it with an appraising stare.

She didn't trust that tone in his voice, not one bit. Hadn't he already won this round? What else was he planning? She narrowed her eyes and warily replied.

"No, what do you like about it, Kakashi?"

"It's got great _legs_."

As he spoke, his hand under the table squeezed and ran firmly up her thigh, much higher than before. _Indecently_ high.

Sakura squeaked but made no move to push the hand away. So Kakashi liked her legs, huh? She supposed this was his way of getting back at her in regards to her appreciation of his forearms. She smirked at that memory, hoping she could use this new information to her advantage.

Sakura smiled and turned back to Kakashi.

"I'm ready to turn in. Walk me home, Kakashi?"

A brief look of shock crossed his face before he schooled it into a neutral expression, which Sakura took as a small sign of weakness from the Copy-Nin.

Soon enough, the pair was on their way out the door, and Sakura was feeling smug and a little giddy after having caught a glimpse of Kakashi's tab as he paid the bill; he had indeed paid for her drinks. They had a pleasant walk back to her place, and she made it a point to sashay a little ways ahead of him so show off her legs. He was probably appreciating the view of her ass, too, but she wasn't going to begrudge him that.

As they made their way up to her front door, Sakura made a show of unlocking it before turning around to face Kakashi, who was standing close enough to put one hand against the doorframe next to her head. He was smirking at her and his eyes held a darkness that she recognized as lust. She would give in soon enough, but for tonight, he would have to wait.

She smiled and stood up on her tiptoes, as Kakashi's face was drawing closer to hers. Mentally she scoffed that he would kiss her with that mask on after she had finally seen his bare face tonight. At the last second she turned her head just enough that Kakashi's cheek brushed hers, and as her mouth drew level with his ear, she whispered lowly to him.

"You're going to have to try a little harder than that, Kakashi."

He pulled away, looking a little shocked, but recovered quickly and smirked right back at her.

"You're a tease, Sakura."

She shrugged as she turned the doorknob behind her, a delightful grin set on her mouth.

"I have to keep up with a pervert like you. Not my fault it's your weakness."

With that she left a stunned Copy Ninja on her doorstep, and only paused a moment when he called through the door.

"Training tomorrow, don't forget, Sakura!"

She certainly wouldn't forget. She had plans.

* * *

The next morning Kakashi carefully calculated what time he would arrive at training. They had agreed to eight o'clock, which by his standards typically meant he would show up at around nine-fifteen. However, he could sense that the game with Sakura was coming to a head, and he was almost giddy with anticipation. So, he decided that eight forty-five would be an acceptable arrival time; still plenty late so as not to make him appear eager or raise suspicions, but that was about as long as he could stand to wait around.

What he didn't anticipate was how blistering _hot_ it was outside. By the time he arrived, Naruto and Sasuke were already going at each other, shirts off and probably only a few minutes away from breaking out some of their major jutsu. Perfect timing. With a self-satisfied grin, Kakashi made his way over to Sakura, who was leaning against the trunk of a shady tree and examining her nails.

And she was wearing the shortest pair of black spandex shorts he'd ever seen. Were those even _shorts_?

"Nice of you to show up on time, Kakashi," she teased without even looking at him.

"You know me," he replied smoothly, "Always looking out for my teammates. And speaking of looking out for you, did you know you walked out in your underwear this morning?"

Of course he knew perfectly well what she was trying to do, wearing those things she called _shorts_ , and he couldn't just let her get away with it. But as he saw the mischievous glint in her eyes, Kakashi wondered if he should have kept that comment to himself.

It was only Kakashi's superior speed that enabled him to block the sudden kick aimed at his groin, and he countered with a kick of his own aimed at her shoulder.

It was typical that the two of them stuck to taijutsu when sparring, and they easily fell into a familiar exchange of kicks and punches. When he noticed Sakura putting more and more chakra behind her blows, he uncovered his Sharingan. Fair was fair, after all.

He noticed, though, that Sakura seemed to be putting more emphasis into her footwork and kicks than her upper body attacks; this was unusual for her, although not an unwelcome change. As she danced around him he went primarily on the defensive, musing to himself that she really could use the practice in these areas. And of course, if she was going make a show of her tan, toned legs, he wasn't going to complain about it.

Kakashi enjoyed letting this go on for a little while, before suddenly going on the offensive again when Sakura aimed a knee at his groin. He wondered if she was doing it on purpose as a sort of revenge for his antics last night at the bar. Kakashi caught her off-guard with his abrupt change of strategy, twisting first one of her arms behind her back and into a hold, then the other. He pressed his chest firmly to her back and lowered his mouth next to her ear, both of them breathing heavily.

"You're playing _dirty_ , Sakura-chan."

He knew his double entendre wouldn't go unnoticed, as sensitive as she was to these exchanges between them, and he wasn't disappointed.

She turned her head to face him, a dark smirk on her pretty lips. He thought fleetingly that she might kiss him, as close as they were, but that fantasy was dashed in the next second. Without warning Sakura's foot slammed into the earth, breaking up the ground all around them and forcing Kakashi to let he go in order to catch himself in the fall. Going back on the defensive, he waited patiently for her to reveal herself in her next move.

It was only a few seconds later that the earth erupted again on either side of him, and not one but _two_ Sakuras came at him full force. While in a real battle this would have been foolish since she needed to conserve her chakra for healing, Kakashi was definitely impressed that she had the capacity to maintain a shadow clone and use it the way she was now. There was no hesitation. Both Sakura and her clone set upon him with an endless barrage of attacks, with a fierce gleam behind two sets of emerald eyes. Every blow was enhanced with chakra, and Kakashi found himself fighting back just as hard. Against another opponent she would have been deadly, for sure, but Kakashi had the advantage of superior speed and the Sharingan.

They'd had spars similar to this before, but this felt different to him; this was more than just a spar. This was the culmination of weeks of flirtation and dancing around each other. There was no denying their attraction and Kakashi found it to be distracting as he fought off the relentless attacks. Two of Sakura meant there was double the distraction. His Sharingan began to work against him as he started to pick up small details that would have otherwise been inconsequential.

The flex of muscle in her thigh before she lashed out with a kick. A strand of hair that clung to her neck, damp with sweat. The shape of her lips as she sucked in a deep breath. A bead of sweat that disappeared into her shirt, between the small swell of her bound breasts. The elegant curve of her back as she artfully twisted away from him to avoid a hit.

He was getting sloppy, and he knew it, but Kakashi couldn't bring himself to care. Sakura had overwhelmed him with her presence and he couldn't stand to play this game anymore. Summoning a small amount of focus, he used the Sharingan to trace her chakra paths and identify the real Sakura. With a feeling of triumph, he did the only thing he'd wanted to do for days on end.

He captured her and wound an arm around her back, halting her movement and pulling her flush against him, while one hand tore down his mask. There was a small _poof_ that signaled the disappearance of her clone nearby.

"I concede," he stated darkly before crashing his mouth to hers.

Sakura melted against him and returned the kiss with fervor, dragging her hands up his chest and winding her fingers into his hair to steady herself.

She was everything he'd been dreaming about for days.

Her mouth tasted sweet and her lithe body felt wonderfully firm and soft in all the right places. He couldn't help reaching down to squeeze her ass, and was rewarded with a pleasured gasp. His senses were overloaded with everything that was Sakura, and he never wanted it to end. She smelt of earth and sweat and blood but he didn't care, because that meant she was Shinobi, like him, and that meant so much more to him than most people could understand. But Sakura did. More than just a pretty face and a powerful kunoichi, Sakura understood _him_.

He pulled away from her reluctantly, and was met with a beaming smile.

"Took you long enough," she joked breathlessly.

Kakashi felt drunk, he was so enamored with her, but unfortunately their private moment was about to be crashed by someone else.

"As much as I want to continue this now," he panted, "It's going to have to wait 'til later. We have company…"

He saw the realization dawn on her. Naruto and Sasuke had been fighting nearby, and one or both of them was making their way here.

"Ah," she grimaced, "I suppose now wouldn't be the best time to tell them…"

"No, probably not," Kakashi agreed lightly. He couldn't resist stealing one more kiss before pulling up his mask.

They stepped away from each other quickly and Sakura made a show of smoothing out her hair as they heard footsteps approaching. A blush still colored her cheeks and she gave him a shy glance as Sasuke came into the clearing.

The Uchiha gave them a strange look, eyes darting between Sakura and Kakashi, before speaking.

"Naruto and I are heading to lunch. Dobe won today, so unfortunately that means ramen," he relayed bitterly.

"We'll be right there," Kakashi replied with an eye crinkle.

Sasuke gave them another look before turning to go catch up with Naruto. When he was out of earshot, Sakura came to stand next to Kakashi, watching Sasuke's retreating back.

"Think he saw us?" she asked conversationally.

"Most definitely," Kakashi confirmed.

Sakura erupted into a fit of giggles.

"Well, I guess that means we don't have to tell _him_. Wonder how long it will take Naruto to figure out?"

"I don't know, but it seems we have a _new_ game to play together, Sakura. Now let me go buy you some ramen."

Kakashi saw her roll her eyes at him before she replied.

"How _romantic_."

"Alright fine. _You_ buy the ramen and _I'll_ take you to that nice tempura place tonight."

When she spoke again it was with a dry sarcasm, but the smile on her face revealed her true feelings regarding that idea.

"You drive a hard bargain, Hatake."

"What can I say? I'm talented. And I have nice forearms, don't forget that."

Kakashi enjoyed the blush that grew hot on her cheeks again. He was never going to let her forget the enlightening confession that started it all. What fun would there be in that?

* * *

TBC


	3. Chapter 3: Gossip

A/N: Thanks to all of my wonderful reviewers! I hope you enjoy this one just as much. I'm thinking one more chapter after this to wrap things up.

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha was many things.

Elite shinobi and deadly assassin? Definitely. Cold-hearted? Perhaps, although his numerous female companions would say otherwise. Arrogant? So he had been told.

But there was one thing that Sasuke Uchiha most definitely _was not_.

Sasuke Uchiha was _not_ a _gossip_.

Which is why Sasuke sat perplexed one morning, not sure why he was so fixated on the scene he had stumbled upon a week ago. Slouched into one of the wooden, straight-backed chairs surrounding his kitchen table and sipping a cup of black coffee, Sasuke found it very odd that his mind was not on the leggy brunette— _Shira_ , he reminded himself—that had left just half an hour ago. Instead, he was trying to puzzle out how he had missed something so monumental as Sakura and Kakashi… _together_.

He did not care so much that they _were_ together; really, he would be happy if Sakura was dating someone—anyone—so that he could stop feeling like he had to hide his personal life from her. They were friends and teammates and Sasuke respected Sakura, but the latent feelings she still had for him made him uncomfortable at times. Well, that she apparently _used to have_ , anyway. So it was not jealousy that made the persistent memory difficult to dismiss.

Sasuke's analytical mind tried to reason it out, and he realized that what perturbed him the most was that he had completely missed the signs of the relationship altogether. The way they had been embraced, and the way they remained close after breaking the kiss was not indicative of something that came out of nowhere. There had definitely been a build-up to that moment, and perhaps there had been similar moments like it before that one.

He was an elite shinobi, trained to notice subtle shifts in relationships and to read people not by their actions, but by their body language. On missions Sasuke excelled at this, and used his knowledge to predict the actions of his targets in order to take them out efficiently. The fact that Sasuke had not observed any changes in the behavior of Sakura and Kakashi until he witnessed them _kissing_ reflected poorly on his skills.

 _Tch_ , he admonished himself. Living safely inside Konoha again was making him lose his edge.

To remedy the situation, Sasuke resolved to investigate. He would get to the bottom of this mystery relationship, if only to compensate for letting it slip past him in the first place. And, he reluctantly admitted to himself, he _was_ curious on a personal level. Just a little.

First, he would need to do some reconnaissance, and for that there was no better person to start with that the queen of gossip herself: Ino Yamanaka.

Resolved in his mission, Sasuke purposefully dressed and made his way down the familiar streets to the Yamanaka flower shop. He often stopped there to purchase a flower for dates—it was astounding how easily women warmed to you with just a few simple gestures—so he wasn't exactly a stranger in that place.

Over time Sasuke had even built some camaraderie with Ino; they were both known for their active involvement in Konoha nightlife and shared a common reputation. Though Sasuke was a playboy and Ino seemed to be his female counterpart, she commanded a respect among the male population that left no room for anyone to mistake her as an easy target for a one-night stand. Men did not take Ino to bed; Ino took _them_ to bed. She had also been known to unpleasantly retaliate against anyone who disrespected her, which only furthered her reputation as someone to be both feared and desired.

Sasuke respected her immensely.

The bell above the door tinkled cheerily as Sasuke strode into the shop, the familiar humidity and floral scents washing over him. Ino looked up from an arrangement she had been working on behind the counter, and smiled knowingly at her customer.

"She must be something special for you to show up this early, Sasuke," Ino observed wryly.

Sasuke refrained from rolling his eyes.

"I'm not here as a customer today. I'm here for some information."

His tone was low and ominous; Ino looked curious and mildly concerned.

"What kind of information?" she asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"What do you know about Sakura and Kakashi?"

The girl looked at him strangely, and it seemed he would have to elaborate. Perhaps Ino didn't know anything after all; how disappointing that would be.

"They're together," he stated bluntly. "What do you know about it?"

Ino blinked hard and her eyes went wide. "What do you mean _together_?" she shrieked.

"I mean I saw them kissing last week; they're… _together_."

A hand darted across the counter faster than any civilian would have been able to follow, and grabbed a fistful of his shirt.

"Tell me everything you know," Ino commanded in a deadly serious tone.

Sasuke relayed his brief account of the incident to the blonde kunoichi, who was growing more irate by the minute.

"How could she not _tell_ me? This is ridiculous! Does Naruto know?"

"No," Sasuke replied with a smirk. "Want to break the news to him with me?"

"Like that's even a question. Nothing gets better than pushing Naruto's buttons."

After shouting something about taking a break to whoever was in the back room of the flower shop, Ino practically shoved Sasuke out the door and the two made a beeline for the training grounds. Naruto could reliably be found in one of two places, and since it wasn't yet lunchtime, he wouldn't be at Ichiraku.

Upon seeing them approach, Naruto jogged to meet them. He'd been training with Lee, it seemed, who waved and shouted something about punishment for losing his spar before dropping into a pushup position.

"Hey guys! Wanna spar? I've got this really great new taijutsu combo that Bushy-Brows was just teaching me and I'd really like to try it out on someone—"

Ino snapped her fingers in Naruto's face.

"Focus, Naruto! This is very important. What do you know about Sakura and Kakashi being together?"

Naruto just looked between Ino and Sasuke with a confused expression.

"Well, yeah, I mean we train together all the time! Kakashi and Sakura always team up. Sasuke and I are together too!"

Ino snickered behind her hand and shot a comical look at Sasuke. The Uchiha glared back at her before smacking the back of Naruto's head in exasperation.

"Oww! What the hell, Teme!"

Sasuke sighed and elaborated.

"Not like _that_ kind of together, _Dobe_. They're apparently _dating_."

It took approximately half a second for the information to sink in.

" _What_? No way! I don't believe you!"

"It's the truth, Naruto; Sasuke saw them kissing last week!"

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head adamantly in response.

"No way. That doesn't even make sense. Kakashi-sensei is _old_. What would Sakura want with _him_?"

"He's not _old_ , Naruto, and I'm pretty sure he's gorgeous under that mask—I'm going to pry the truth out of Sakura's brain if I have to, but it would just be disappointing if he wasn't—"

Sasuke did _not_ care for the direction this conversation was going. "Whatever," he interrupted. "We'll prove it to you, Naruto."

Ino nodded in agreement, and Naruto reluctantly agreed. They set about forming a plan.

"Well why can't we just ask them?" Naruto suggested.

Sasuke put his head in his hand and groaned.

"Idiot, we can't just ask them. Kakashi keeps his grocery list secret. He's not going to just suddenly admit he's dating Sakura."

"And Forehead won't give up this kind of juicy gossip either. She loves knowing stuff that I don't!"

Sasuke and Ino stared determinedly as Naruto, who merely looked more confused than before and scratched his head.

"Oh…okay…so what do we do?"

"We tail them," Sasuke supplied immediately. "It won't be hard. Last time I saw them…like that…they were in the middle of the training field; they're bound to slip up again in public soon."

Naruto made a disgusted face.

"I didn't need to know that! I use that training field too!"

Sasuke was also sure he heard Ino mutter something about that being "every kunoichi's fantasy," but he really didn't want to delve into that.

"Whatever," Sasuke said. "Let's go."

* * *

One week and two dates with Kakashi had passed since Sakura had won their flirtatious competition. The day was pleasantly warm, and a gentle breeze rustled through the trees lining the street where she was sitting at a café, drinking tea and catching up on some medical journals.

Well, she was _trying_ to catch up on her reading, anyway. A certain silver-haired, porn-reading, perpetually late shinobi seemed to permeate her thoughts and distract her every other paragraph. It was to the point where she wasn't actually absorbing any of the information, and she should probably set it aside for another time.

She couldn't bring herself to be angry about it, though. With a relaxed sigh she closed the journal and sat back to simply enjoy the quiet street, free from any obligations for the afternoon. Her thoughts remained on Kakashi, and Sakura indulged in some daydreaming without guilt.

The last week had been wonderful. Kakashi was the last person she had expected to fall for, but she was falling hard and fast in her typical fashion. But, this felt a little different. The attraction she felt was not based on her schoolgirl crush, or some misguided preconception about someone Ino or her mother had deemed "a good man."

Instead, her new, tentative relationship with Kakashi felt empowering, like there were endless possibilities ahead of them. Despite only having been on two official dates, Sakura's new awareness of Kakashi made her realize how much time they already spent together. They were constantly challenging each other and then finding joy in their games, to the point that it seemed their relationship was based in laughter. Drunken confessions and charged competitions aside, they each genuinely enjoyed bringing happiness to the other person. It was such a simple pleasure, but something that shinobi knew never to take for granted. They had stumbled upon something precious, she knew.

Somewhat unexpectedly, Sakura found herself content to let this new relationship with her teammate play out naturally. For once in her life, she didn't feel the need to overthink it; for once with Kakashi, she didn't feel the need to look underneath the underneath. It was a very liberating feeling, and Sakura could not help the grin that spread across her face every time she thought of him.

Her pleasant daydream was disturbed with the screech of metal being dragged across pavement. Opening her eyes, Sakura found the subject of her daydreams slouching across from her in the chair he had so rudely and deliberately abused. He drummed his fingers absently on the table, and Sakura's eyes were drawn appreciatively to the subtle ripple of muscle in his forearm.

 _Nice_ , she thought inwardly. And then she realized, _the sneaky jerk did that on purpose_.

"You know," she said blithely, opening her medical journal again, "Most people greet others with words. 'Hello' usually works well."

"Hello, Sakura," Kakashi responded smoothly. She looked up again to see his unmasked face set into a roguish grin.

Damn. He was good.

Sakura bit her bottom lip and looked up at him shyly through her lashes, which she knew drove him crazy in the best way. The effect was ruined shortly, however, when her stubborn mouth broke into a wide smile and she laughed at her own expense.

When she stopped laughing and they finally returned to a normal conversation, Sakura asked him excitedly, "What brought you here? I thought you had a mission?"

"Postponed until next week because of some bureaucratic red tape. It was a very difficult choice to decide how to spend all my new free time, though," he deadpanned.

A blush spread over Sakura's cheeks.

"Well, since you're free, maybe we could spend the rest of the day together?" she proposed hopefully.

"I was hoping you would say that, actually. I have a game for us to play."

Kakashi's tone turned dramatic and he leaned towards her conspiratorially. Sakura leaned closer in response as Kakashi elaborated.

"Today I happened to be taking Pakkun for a nice walk, he really needs the exercise, you know—"

"Right, because your _ninja dog_ needs a _walk_ for exercise."

"Well, he _may_ have coerced me into buying him some sausages, but that's neither here nor there."

Sakura snorted incredulously; like Kakashi would ever be _coerced_ into anything. He spoiled those dogs and everyone knew it.

"So we were making our way to the butcher, when I happened to see Sasuke go into the Yamanaka flower shop."

At this Sakura perked up. There must be a point to this story, after all.

"It seems that Sasuke is quite perplexed about us, and he went to Ino for information. Now, Ino didn't appear to know anything, which surprised me."

Kakashi didn't continue, and Sakura realized he meant for her to explain. She shrugged.

"She was gone for a few days on a mission. We just haven't had time to catch up."

That was the truth, but privately Sakura had procrastinated telling Ino because she knew she was in for a five hour interrogation session in the name of "girl talk." She loved her best friend, but girl talk could be exhausting. Kakashi easily accepted her brief answer before continuing.

"Naturally, Ino was shocked to hear about it. Sasuke doesn't know anything except that he saw us kiss, and he can't figure out what kind of relationship we have now. I followed them to the training ground, where they dragged Naruto into it. He doesn't believe either of them, and now they're planning to do some investigating."

Sakura rolled her eyes. This was exactly the kind of hair-brained scheme she would expect of Sasuke and Naruto. And of course, Drama Queen Ino _would_ engage in subterfuge to find out about her best friend's relationship instead of just, you know, _asking_ her about it. Like a normal person. She saw where Kakashi was going with this, and a devious smirk curled at her lips.

"You want to play with them."

"Exactly," he replied mischievously.

* * *

It was Ino who spotted their quarry first. Reluctantly, Sasuke had to admit that Ino should be their tactician on this mission since it involved the social circles of Konoha. She'd used her bona-fide network of friends and acquaintances—really, how was it possible for one person to know literally every other person on the street—to figure out that Sakura and Kakashi were last seen at the café.

The trio caught up to them just ten minutes later, maintaining a safe distance that would keep them within eyesight but out of range of Kakashi's freakish hearing. Unfortunately, that meant they couldn't hear anything being said by Sakura and Kakashi either. Reading lips was also not a possibility—they were faced with Sakura's back and Kakashi's mask from their hiding spot across and a little ways down the street.

They watched for half an hour, and nothing happened.

Kakashi and Sakura were just sitting there talking. Occasionally one or the other would laugh, which carried down the street to reach the ears of the stalking trio. But then Kakashi produced his well-read, orange novel from an unseen pocket, and Sakura could be seen flipping through the pages of a magazine.

Sasuke was underwhelmed with the normalcy of the pair, and it seemed Ino and Naruto felt the same.

This wasn't some kind of _date_. They weren't even paying attention to each other!

Ino huffed a sigh, and Naruto was drawing patterns in the dirt with a stick. Only Sasuke still diligently observed their targets, but he refused to give up.

* * *

"Your seven o'clock," Kakashi muttered while motioning the waitress for his own cup of tea, mask now firmly back in place.

Trained well, Sakura recognized the mission-code and didn't need to look to know her teammates and best friend must have found them. Their show was on, but Sakura maintained her easy body language.

"So," she said lightly while flicking a page of the medical journal, "How did you find me so quickly, Kakashi?"

"I know you well. For a ninja, you're very predictable."

She looked up at him with indignation, about to retort his accusation, when the waitress appeared and brought Kakashi's tea on a tray, along with Sakura's favorite dango. Confusion crossed her face because she hadn't ordered the sweet, but Kakashi cut her off before she could catch the attention of the retreating waitress.

"I ordered the dango for you when I came in, Sakura," he said with warmth in his voice that betrayed his hidden smile. "I know that you had a rough day at work yesterday, and the day off today. I know that when that happens, you like to come here and treat yourself."

Sakura felt herself blush. It was true, although her day yesterday hadn't been _that_ terrible and she hadn't actually been planning to order more than tea, but now that they were here she certainly wasn't going to refuse the sweet dumplings.

Okay, so maybe she was a _little_ predictable.

"Thanks," she said with a returning smile.

As she indulged in the dango, she couldn't help but notice the way Kakashi's eye flickered to her mouth as her lips wrapped around each dumpling.

Oh, so it was like that, now? Pervert.

With deliberate slowness, she pursed her lips and sucked lightly on the next dumpling as she would a lollipop, before finally releasing it with a swirl of her tongue. She noticed Kakashi's eye was still trained on her mouth, and with a sense of cruel glee she suddenly bit down savagely on the treat in contrast to her previous caress. Kakashi coughed suddenly, and when Sakura next glanced at his face he had averted his gaze, a faint pink dusting his cheek above the hem of his mask. She smirked, knowing he realized he'd been caught.

But the small exchange brought to mind the state of their physical relationship as well. Sakura took her time with the last two dumplings so that she could have a few minutes to order her thoughts.

Their last date had ended in a rather heated make out session on Sakura's couch, and it was obvious that Kakashi had wanted to continue despite his sudden but gallant departure. It seemed that he was quite forward when they were engaging in flirtatious games, but afraid of pushing her too far when they were alone. She scoffed at the idea that he still thought of her as some kind of innocent, but found it interesting that he got a thrill out of making advances towards her in public. Suddenly their trio of spies seemed more like unwitting voyeurs, so Sakura decided to play along.

She bit her lip and looked up at Kakashi demurely again, though his gaze was still directed elsewhere.

"So how far do we take this, Kakashi?"

She knew of course that he wasn't privy to her train of thought, and wouldn't interpret her question for the entendre that it was.

"Until we get bored, I suppose," he drawled while sweeping his gaze over the architecture of the café again.

Sakura fought down a grin, and made a point to brush her foot up his calf as she crossed her legs under the small table to regain his attention.

"Oh? So you're not interested in taking this all the way?"

Kakashi did a double take and made a noise that sounded like he covered up a gasp with a cough, finally catching onto what she implied.

"Well, um, I don't get bored very easily…so I definitely think this could go on for a while."

"….All night, maybe?" Sakura suggested immediately.

She wondered if Kakashi's eye could bug out of his head any farther. Abruptly he stood and with a subtle flick of his hand, he'd thrown enough coin on the table to cover both of their drinks and the dango.

"I think we should go for a walk now," he said lowly. "Although I can think of several ways to make it _very_ clear to your friends what kind of relationship we have, I like messing with them too much to give in so quickly."

Sakura broke into an innocent smile.

"I'll make sure you spell it out for me very clearly later. When we're alone."

* * *

"Something's happening!" Sasuke whispered harshly as Kakashi and Sakura stood from their table. Without preamble the alleged couple simply walked away from the café and down the street.

This got Ino's attention again, but Naruto seemed to have already forgotten their purpose as they followed down the busy street, heading for the market district. The stupid idiot was prattling on about Hinata, having insisted that someone should be talking to make them look normal, and unfortunately for Sasuke, Ino acquiesced that point. Never in his life did Sasuke ever think he would hear another man use the word "cute" so many times in one conversation. In order not to break out into a fight, Sasuke ignored even direct questions from Naruto in favor of observation.

"So Hinata asked me to come to this party the Hyuugas are having in honor of somebody's birthday, and I have no idea what to do," Naruto rambled, "Their family is so old school and traditional and I don't want to make an idiot out of myself, or worse, embarrass Hinata! I'm going to stick out so much—wait—do I have to buy new clothes?"

"Naruto—" Ino interjected.

"Neji is inviting Tenten so it's cool I wont be the only outsider but she's a _girl_. And I don't want to ask Hinata for advice because I want her to think I have everything under control. I mean she's always talking about how awesome I am and I don't want to disappoint her…"

Ino punched him in the arm to get his attention again. _"Yes,_ Naruto, you have to wear traditional clothes if you're going to that kind of event. I'll take you shopping sometime, but right now you need to shut your mouth and pay attention! If I miss Kakashi's face when he kisses Sakura I'm going to jutsu you into wearing a dress to the Hyuuga party!"

Sasuke assumed Naruto hadn't heard the threat, because the idiot didn't even react to the second half of Ino's statement.

"Wow, thanks Ino! I already tried asking Teme but he just glared and threw a kunai at me—"

Sasuke abandoned his watch of the couple ahead of them and rounded on Naruto. "That's because we were being ambushed on a mission, you moron! You asked me while you were fending off two other guys!"

"Well they weren't that strong, Teme. I took both of them down without a sweat and I wasn't even thinking about it! You need more training."

"That kunai I threw was to knock a shuriken out of the air, Dobe, which you would have realized if you had been paying attention!"

" _Knock it off, you two!"_ Ino scolded harshly while smacking them both in the back of the head, "You're going to get us caught if you keep yelling!"

Naruto pouted and, _quietly_ , had to get in the last word. "Yeah, well you still could have helped me out after we'd taken care of them."

Sasuke just rolled his eyes and glared at Naruto, realizing that he had let the Dobe get under his skin and distract him from their mission.

So far Sakura and Kakashi seemed to just be taking a walk, and if that were all that happened it would continue to be very anti climactic. Sasuke perked up when Kakashi slipped an arm around Sakura's waist, so he nudged the chattering blonde beside him.

Of course, Naruto was dense in both mind and body, and completely missed the subtle signal.

It seemed Kakashi's hand slid lower on Sakura's hip; Sasuke and Ino watched Sakura pointedly remove the hand and place it back on her proper waist.

"Naruto!" Ino hissed.

But Naruto was too wrapped up in yet _another_ story about Hinata to hear her.

Now Kakashi was sliding his hand down again, and it landed firmly on Sakura's ass. _Then squeezed._

Sasuke could only gape at the Copy Ninja's brazen move.

" _Naruto!"_ Ino shrieked and grabbed his chin, forcing his attention towards the scene in front of them—just in time to see Sakura nonchalantly shove Kakashi hard into the building next to them. She kept walking like nothing had happened.

Naruto swatted Ino's hand away and rubbed his jaw. "What was that for?" he exclaimed.

"Didn't you see, you idiot? They were _flirting!"_

With a huff, Naruto rolled his eyes. "Sakura-chan punched him into a wall. What's that got to do with flirting?"

Sasuke smacked his hand over his eyes and shook his head. This was going to be harder than he thought.

* * *

Over the next few days Sasuke has seen Kakashi hold Sakura's hand, grab her ass _again_ , and full on make out against the outside wall of the ramen shop.

Naruto had missed every. Single. Moment.

Sasuke was at the end of his rope. He had confirmed that Kakashi and Sakura were…something…but he had yet to prove it to anyone but Ino. And although the couple was clearly attracted to each other, Sasuke still didn't fully understand the nature of their relationship. He also suspected they were onto him and putting on a show at just the right moment. This didn't feel like a successful mission at all.

On the third afternoon, Ino apparently had enough. Sasuke met her outside the flower shop, where Naruto joined them a few minutes later.

Sasuke had a new plan today, where they would try to push the couple into a situation where they would have to reveal themselves. A locked closet sealed to prevent transportation, maybe.

"Listen, Sasuke," Ino rebuked, "They're clearly messing with us. Forehead will give up the intel on her own in a matter of time. I think we need to call it quits."

To Sasuke's astonishment, Naruto nodded his agreement.

"Yeah, I mean you guys have both seen them acting like a couple; I'll take your word for it. Maybe we should just let them be happy. They'll fill us in when they're ready."

Sasuke glared, but had to admit they were right. There was no sense in fighting a losing battle against the Copy Ninja, anyway.

"Aww, don't look so down, Uchiha!" Ino chided. "C'mon. Naruto and I are going shopping."

"Thanks, but I'd rather not be subjected to a Naruto fashion show."

Sasuke was marginally cheered up by the horrified look on Naruto's face.

"Wait, you mean I have to actually _try stuff on?"_

Before he could protest any further, Ino had clamped onto Naruto's wrist and dragged him away down the street, leaving a smirking Sasuke alone again.

He sighed, resigned to just wait and be patient for Kakashi and Sakura to let the rest of them in on their little secret. Not that it was much of one, anyway, since Sasuke, Naruto, and Ino already knew the gist of it. He meandered through Konoha for a little while, mimicking the habit of the very ninja Sasuke had been tailing.

After a little while, Sasuke found himself wandering though a public park—one not designated for sparring and instead well maintained for the general public. A path meandered through some trees, and Sasuke seamlessly quieted his movements when he spotted Kakashi and Sakura sitting closely together on a bench, some fifty meters away. Stealthily Sasuke crept towards them, pleased to find that their voices carried softly through the glade of trees.

They were laughing about something that Sasuke had missed, which in itself wasn't unusual—he'd seen them laugh together a lot over the last few days. But they sat with a familiarity that brought to mind the ease of couples that had spent years together, not just a couple of weeks. Kakashi's arm wrapped around Sakura's waist, and she leaned all of her weight into his chest while resting a hand on his leg. Sakura turned and stifled another giggle into Kakashi's shoulder, and the tenderness with which Kakashi looked down on her was an expression that was completely foreign to Sasuke. It was more innocent than some of the interactions Sasuke had witnessed thus far, and yet it felt much more intimate.

It was then Sasuke realized they hadn't noticed him. They weren't putting on a show, or engaging in some outrageous spectacle just to get a rise out of him. Kakashi and Sakura were simply enjoying each other's company, indulging in a quiet moment to themselves. _This_ was the true nature of their relationship—the comfort to just _be_ with the other person, a closeness brought on by laughter and adoration.

For the first time Sasuke suddenly felt like he was intruding on something he shouldn't, and so crept away as quietly as he came. He didn't even think he would share this discovery with Ino or Naruto, content just to know that his teammates were genuinely happy together. He supposed he could count this mission as a success at last.

* * *

TBC with more KakaSaku goodness in the last chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

Wearily Kakashi, Sai, and Naruto trudged along the deserted main avenue of Konoha. Or rather, Kakashi and Sai trudged. By all accounts, Naruto _should_ have been just as wiped as the other two; they'd just returned from a three-week mission, after all. But Naruto's endless enthusiasm gave him boundless energy.

If Kakashi had more chakra left he might have considered using a jutsu to knock the kid out, or shut him up or something. But as it was, use of the Sharingan has drained his chakra and Kakashi was in no fit state to do anything but make his slow way to his own bed.

It was just before midnight, if Kakashi's internal clock could be trusted. (And it could _always_ be trusted.) Naruto's voice as he rambled on about Hinata and how excited he was to see her seemed too loud for the still evening. It was warm, but no breeze rustled the leaves in the trees; Naruto's words cut through the night like a trumpeter announcing their presence as they paraded down the street.

"…And we've been on _five dates!_ I think it's getting pretty serious, guys…"

Kakashi held in another sigh—in part out of his duty to control his emotions around his team, and in part because it hurt when he breathed too deeply. They'd been notified of Naruto's milestone _several_ times while away on their mission. Apparently it was a crying shame that Naruto had to spend so long away from Hinata.

The real shame was just how far away Kakashi was from his bed.

"Five dates," Sai finally interrupted, "and you still haven't gotten laid? I guess you really must be dickless after all."

Kakashi tensed; Sai was just as tired of Naruto's prattle, but did he really have to go and stir the damn pot when they were so close to escaping the blonde bigmouth? He chanced a glance at Naruto to find him actually _blushing_. Aww, how cute.

Then Naruto made a grab for Sai's shirt, only to miss because, well, Sai's shirts were typically skin tight and midriff baring and therefore hard to grab.

"Why you gotta say stuff like that, bastard! Don't talk about Hinata like that! That's not why I'm dating her anyway, and for the last time I'm _not_ dickless!"

Sai wisely didn't respond to this outburst, and Naruto's scowl seemed to indicate the fight had finally gone out of him for the night. Kakashi was certainly relieved at this, at least.

Being isolated with the two younger men for the last three weeks had grated on his nerves more than he'd expected. He had of course been saddled with the two ninja for which puberty hit the latest. He was almost positive that Naruto was easier to deal with at age fifteen when he was obsessed with bringing Sasuke home, than he was now. Naruto was loudly missing Hinata while Kakashi pretended he was missing Sakura less than he really was, and Sai was constantly calling both of them out on their bullshit. It made for a lot of bickering and denial and stress. Every word, move, and sigh meant something, and if it wasn't one of them squabbling it was the other.

The sigh finally escaped from Kakashi, and he regretted it instantly.

"Kakashi-sensei, what was sigh that for?" Naruto asked accusingly.

Studiously Kakashi ignored the bait, not wanting to engage in another argument just blocks from home. He _really_ wished he had the energy to run ahead of them.

Just five more blocks. He could do it. One foot in front of the other, and he concentrated on the path ahead and the sound of their footsteps crunching in the gravel. The rhythm of their feet and the swish of their clothing were so soothing that he could _almost_ pretend he hadn't just heard Naruto sigh Hinata's name wistfully.

No—not wistfully, and not Naruto. That came from further up the street. Kakashi glanced up in time to see two figures stumble arm in arm onto the main street, and then promptly burst into a fit of _giggles_ when one of them almost fell to the ground.

Great. Drunk girls. Just what he needed right now.

One of the girls—the one who seemed a little more steady on her feet—helped the other one up, and as the second one got her footing again she turned in the direction of the trio of men approaching them. Kakashi heard her drunken, exaggerated gasp from twenty yards away.

"It's my Naruto-kun!"

Now Kakashi was really confused. Were they fangirls of Naruto's? _Sasuke_ had been stopped in the street before, but never Naruto. Although Naruto did gain a bit of a following after he defeated Pain, he supposed. Curious to see what the blonde thought if his lasting popularity, Kakashi turned towards him to see an equally confused expression on Naruto's face.

A few seconds passed and the three men drew up to the women as Naruto hesitantly returned the greeting.

"…Hinata?"

Kakashi felt like kicking himself; how could he not have realized the two women were kunoichi? And not just any kunoichi, but one that he was familiar with and the other of which he had spent the last three weeks pining over! Kami, he must be more drained than the realized.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed loudly while throwing her arms in the air, "You've been gone! But now you're here!" The alcohol and excitement caused her to be thrown off balance again, and she almost fell a second time before Sakura caught her.

"C'mon, Hinata, you can see Naruto tomorrow."

Sakura was probably using a bit of her own chakra to keep Hinata steady, and didn't seem nearly as drunk as her friend. Kakashi noticed the faint blush on her cheeks as she addressed their group with a tired smile.

"Sorry, I'm taking her back to my place to sleep this off. We, uh, may have finally convinced Hinata to drink with us."

"And I drank everything!" Hinata declared proudly.

Naruto must have looked dutifully concerned for his girlfriend because when Sakura glanced away from Kakashi she assured the blonde that Hinata was exaggerating.

"Don't worry, she didn't drink _everything_ ; just enough to make her a little drunk. I've been watching her all night and she's obviously a bit if a lightweight…"

"Who's light? I'm not light—Naruto-kun! I thought you left!"

Hinata's drunken ramblings were only encouraged when Naruto stepped forward, close enough that the girl could fling her arms around him. Naruto only smiled at her, humoring her and with all the patience in the world. It was like a switch had been flipped from his argument with Sai just minutes ago.

"You look like you've been having fun," he said with a chuckle.

"No! I haven't! You've been sad for three weeks 'cause I've been gone!"

Kakashi watched with an odd mix of revulsion and envy as Hinata rubbed her face into Naruto's chest. Not jealously of Hinata, of course, but…drunk-Hinata reminded Kakashi of drunk-Sakura from their mission not so long ago in which she'd confessed her love of his forearms. It was…cute…and…why did he wish that Sakura was rubbing _her_ face into _his_ chest so adorably?

Dammit. When had he gone _so freaking soft?_

His thoughts about the state of his manliness were forgotten when he heard a soft giggle from Sakura, muffled by her deceptively delicate hand.

"She means ' _I've_ been sad since _you've_ been gone.' Although I guess the way she said it could make sense too…"

As her words trailed off Sakura's gaze wandered away from Naruto and back to the other two men, sweeping over their limbs.

Uh oh. Kakashi recognized that look. That was her all-business, assessing injury look. He knew that Sai and Naruto just had a few scrapes and bruises, nothing noteworthy that needed her attention.

But he himself had some major injuries. Aside from his labored breathing—which he'd done his best to hide but he was sure wouldn't escape Sakura's notice—he was sure Sakura had also noticed the way he favored his left leg. Of course, that was quite understandable considering the slice he'd taken to his right hamstring. It was tightly bandaged now of course, and her eyesight wasn't good enough to see the blood soaked into his pants in this dim light. Small blessing, he supposed.

Kakashi feigned innocence until she met his eyes with a hard, scrutinizing look, the one she'd learned from Tsunade.

Damn. That was her _I can see you're injured and you can't lie your way out of it_ look.

So he did the only thing he could: put on his best stern, commanding officer look. The one he hoped was saying, _All I want to do is go home and sleep_.

She rolled her eyes, but Kakashi couldn't tell if that meant he'd won or lost. They both turned their attention back to a blushing Naruto and a rather frisky Hinata. The dark haired girl was running her hands up and down Naruto's chest, oblivious to or uncaring about the dirt and stains on his uniform. Sakura tried to save him and grabbed one of Hinata's arms in an effort to regain her attention.

"C'mon, Hinata! Let's get you to bed."

"What! No! Naruto-kun is here, I can go to _his_ bed!"

Naruto's face went just a shade darker; he was rivaling his girlfriend at the height of her embarrassment if Kakashi wasn't mistaken. Kakashi was enjoying Naruto's embarrassment too much to intervene at this point, although it was a small relief that Sai seemed to have hit his limit and was now wandering off with a wave. No doubt he would tease Naruto about having Hinata in his bed another time, though.

"Hinata," Sakura tried again, this time with the Stern Medic tone, "Naruto just got back from a mission. He looks _exhausted_. You both need to rest and then you can hang out tomorrow, okay?"

But the Hyuga girl would not be deterred.

"But just look at his face!" she said while cupping her hands around his cheeks. "His eyes are just so pretty!"

Finally Naruto regained some of his composure, maybe because Sai was gone.

"Don't worry about it, Sakura. I'll just let her crash at my place; I don't mind sleeping on the couch."

Kakashi winced as Hinata let out another gasp followed by a short, girlish squeal, and wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck. It was way too late for that kind of thing.

"I'm sleeping with Naruto!" Hinata declared.

It was a wonder no one had told them off yet for being so loud. Naruto blushed and sighed, making Sakura laugh again. Okay, the amusingly drunk Hyuga girl and her blonde boyfriend were tolerable if they made Sakura laugh.

"Are you sure, Naruto?" Sakura asked, but went on anyway like a mother hen about Hinata's condition. "She should be fine; I filtered most of the alcohol out of her system. She's just feeling some of the lingering effects now. I guarantee she'll be out like a light as soon as she lays down."

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine," Naruto replied with a grin while prying her arms from around his neck. "C'mon Hinata…"

Only, the girl wouldn't budge. She stumbled a bit as Naruto attempted to tug her along, and dramatically explained, "My legs are broken! Carry me, Naruto!"

Ever the good-hearted gentleman and always one for a good laugh, Naruto chuckled and obliged her, heaving the girl over one shoulder.

Kakashi watched with an eyebrow raised as Hinata proceeded to giggle hysterically, her hair swaying a bit as Naruto started to walk off with her.

"Naruto! How long has your ass been so fantastic! Just look at it!"

One of her hands reached down and actually groped Naruto, causing him to stumble a bit and mutter something that about knowing why Hinata didn't like to drink around him.

Yeah, they would wake up the whole neighborhood before they got home.

Once they were out of sight, Kakashi turned back to Sakura, who looked just as perplexed by that amusing exchange as Kakashi felt. She made a face that caused him to suddenly burst into his own short fit of hysterical laugher, which was apparently contagious.

He could listen to that laugh all night.

But his laughter was cut short when it caused him to cough harshly, pulling at his wounded torso painfully. Sakura was at his side instantly, and he knew he wouldn't be sleeping until she'd healed him. Her strong arms under his were smooth and warm, a welcome comfort as she helped him stand upright.

"Always the hero," she muttered as they began to walk together. And then louder, lecturing directly to him, "I know you got these injuries while stepping in front of Sai or Naruto. Based on the location of the wounds— _yes_ , I can see the blood on your pants, you idiot—there's no way you could have gotten them without jumping into the _actual line of fire."_

Damn, she was good.

He let out a defeated grunt, and let Sakura take over. She was already pushing chakra into his body, soothing his muscles and no doubt checking for other injuries as they made their way to his apartment.

Once inside, Kakashi eased himself onto the couch—he would swear in the morning he did this all by himself and _not_ with Sakura's help. As he rested his head against the cushions, he could hear Sakura running some water and flitting around his apartment. She'd been here enough times to know where he kept his first aid kit and towels.

It was perhaps a testament to the amount of blood he had lost, that when Sakura returned to his field of vision she looked like the proverbial guardian angel sent to save him. Her hair seemed to have a halo from the soft lamplight, and her casual clothes from her night out revealed just a bit more skin than usual. Soft, creamy skin that he really wanted to touch.

The effort was too much at the moment, so he settled for the feel of her gentle hands unzipping his vest and sliding it off his shoulders. She plucked at the fingers of his gloves, treating his rough palms to a quick rub as she peeled the leather away, and ran her hand through his hair as she took off his headband. Her hands—wonderfully cool and soft—tugged his shirt from his pants and then he could feel her slender fingers sliding up his abdomen and taking his shirt and mask with them. Then those same hands put just a little pressure on his shoulder, urging him to lie down.

The change in position brought him back to reality a bit. Maybe being horizontal allowed a little more blood to reach is brain, or maybe it was the way the pressure on his ribs got worse. Sakura clucked her tongue at him, shaking her head as her hands glowed green.

Ah, sweet relief.

Every second that passed eased his pain just a little more, as she set his ribs and soothed his bruised skin. Capillaries were repaired and the ugly mottled color of his skin began to clear as he watched her work. It never ceased to amaze him, how efficiently she could heal; it was quite surreal to see and feel the changes in his body so quickly. Already he was feeling better, stronger. More awake.

"That's better," she said with a smile, "now let's get you turned over so I can look at that leg."

This was easier, now that he could breathe again. She didn't need to help him anymore, but he enjoyed her touch as much as he suspected she enjoyed having a reason to touch him, too.

When he was situated on his stomach, Sakura helped herself to a kunai from the holster still strapped to his opposite leg and used it cut the bloody and ruined pant-leg away from the wound. She was easing chakra into his body as she unwrapped the bandage, and in minutes it was good as new.

She didn't have to, but Sakura proceeded to wipe the blood from his body with a warm, damp cloth. Kakashi had been given countless sponge baths in the hospital over the years, but nothing had ever felt quite to intimate as this. The cloth ran up his back and over his shoulder blades in long, soothing strokes; he let out a small sigh of contentment in response. He could feel little tingles of chakra as she healed small and inconsequential nicks and cuts as she went.

She was stalling.

Sakura was finished healing him, but as he became aware of her hesitancy to end their closeness, a small amount of awkwardness crept in. She was in charge here, and he couldn't be the one to declare himself healed.

Well, he _could_. He'd done it before (and earned an extra bruise for it from Sakura's iron grip as she forced him to lay back down). But he didn't want her to stop showering him with attention any more than she seemed to want to stop giving it.

Just when he was debating on making an inappropriate joke about hand jobs to break the tension, Sakura was the one to finally speak.

"I missed you," she blurted.

Well that was much more pleasant than what he'd been planning; she had excellent timing.

He gave her a tired smile, unexpectedly glad that she voiced the same thing he had been feeling.

"I missed you too, Sakura."

Maybe she just wasn't used to seeing him smile with his whole face exposed, but she blushed and stood quickly.

"Well—I'll let you rest—I know you're dead on your feet—"

She stopped suddenly, half turned away from him, when his hand caught her wrist.

"Don't go yet," he urged, "stay a little while longer."

Her cheeks went just a little more pink, but some of her nerve must have returned because she raised an eyebrow at him and turned back around to deliver her retort.

"I don't think you're in any fit state for _that_ kind of activity," she said with a smirk.

Kakashi noticed that she hadn't pulled her wrist out of his grip.

"What, a man can't invite a pretty lady into his bed late at night just for company?"

She huffed indignantly and _did_ try to pull her hand away this time, but he caught her again.

"Only because I'm going to be dead asleep soon, like you said! I'd just rather fall asleep in bed. And I just…want you to stay."

Sakura bit her lip to try and hide it, but he could see her sweet smile breaking through.

Damn, there was that light, hopeful feeling again. It was like he felt ten times lighter when he was around her. When she nodded in agreement, he used his other hand to push himself up until he could swing his legs onto the floor and stand.

He never let go of her hand.

Once upright, he felt a little woozy but much stronger than he had an hour ago.

"I believe this is the part where I'm supposed to carry you over the threshold," he joked as they started to walk together, "but I don't think I'm up for it. Maybe you can carry me instead?"

She rolled her eyes but smiled at him. He'd make every corny joke in the world for that.

"In your dreams, Kakashi."

"Why yes, you will be."

She flushed again, but just responded with a light shove with the hand not clutching onto his.

They only separated again once they made it into the bedroom. Kakashi quickly unwound his leg wrappings and dropped what was left of his pants to the floor, climbing into bed in his boxers. Sakura went straight for his dresser as if she'd pilfered Jonin shirts from him before—which she probably had, now that he thought about it.

Kakashi watched as she turned away from him and stripped down to her bra, then pulled his shirt on over her torso. He liked the way his shirt looked on her. Too big, it came down just below her ass and clung just slightly to her hips. Her hands were pulled into the shirt and as if by magic her bra dropped to the floor a few seconds later, then she shimmied out of her shorts and turned around.

Sakura smirked at him when she caught him watching. Not too long ago he would have been punched for that, but now she welcomed his leering gaze.

Oh, if only he wasn't so exhausted, he really might have been tempted to act on that look she was giving him right now.

But she seemed to agree that now was not the time, and he pulled the blanket back as she climbed into the bed next to him hastily. They lay side by side, facing each other in the darkness. Their proximity was electric and their breaths mingled, but they touched only a little at first.

"What caused so much trouble on your mission?" she asked when they were settled.

Kakashi was momentarily distracted by the color of her eyes in the moonlight, a bottle-green color that seemed deeper than their normal jade, but he focused on her question with a small amount of effort.

"It was supposed to be a simple retrieval of some documents stolen from the Daimyo. Except the thieves were backed by some mercenaries that managed to completely hand our asses to us. Well, handed _my_ ass to _me_ , anyway."

She giggled a little and leaned forward to plant a kiss on his lips.

"Well I'm glad you brought your ass back home to me."

He smiled, and she bit her lip again. He thought it was adorable when she did that.

Now that they were lying in bed, Kakashi could feel sleep getting closer. A comfortable silence fell over them as they lay there facing each other, enjoying this new sense of contentment together.

Kakashi stroked a piece of hair away from Sakura's face, behind her ear. His hand followed the path of her neck and over her shoulder, then around to her back. He was learning the curves of her body in a new way, learning them by how they felt against his caress. In turn Sakura was exploring his chest and shoulders—and his forearms, which made him grin— in a way that was softer, more intimate than when she touched him to heal his wounds. She touched to _feel_ , using her fingertips to gently trace the curves of his muscles. She finally met his gaze and he read in her eyes that she was feeling the same as he.

 _I want to know you. I want to know you like I know myself._

Sakura shuffled closer then, and his arm came up for her to rest her head in the crook of his shoulder. She kissed him again—a long but chaste kiss goodnight—before sinking down to rub her face affectionately into his chest. His arm came gratefully around her and he kissed the top of her head when she sighed contentedly.

Kakashi's last thought for the night was that his wish from earlier came true.

* * *

Like most ninja, Sakura was typically a light sleeper. The slightest bit of light or noise would wake her, which often meant she was robbed of the joy of sleeping in. So she was surprised the next morning when she woke to find sunlight streaming into Kakashi's room. They'd slept later than normal.

She smiled when she realized neither of them had moved much over the course of the night. If anything, they were closer; one of her legs had found its way between his, and his strong arm was wrapped around her so that his palm rested against her back. Wriggling a little, she freed herself just enough to stretch her limbs, and when she settled back down Kakashi had cracked open one eye. His mouth was set into a charming smile, and he pulled her back to him.

Kakashi kissed her sweetly, but when his lips started to move against hers the heat built between them quickly. Sakura kissed him back with just as much fervor, delighting in the way he sucked on her bottom lip lightly. But when he started to turn and pull her on top of him, she held back with a soft laugh.

"I have to go—I have to be at the hospital later, and I have paperwork to catch up on before that—"

He cut her off with one more brief kiss, but relinquished his hold on her.

"Good morning to you too," he pouted.

As she got up from the bed she let him catch a flash of her panties, just to tease him, and as she crossed into his bathroom she turned back to him and winked. She would undoubtedly be pounced on later, but she really didn't have time this morning. Some cold water splashed onto her face helped her wake up, and she did her best to finger-comb her hair. Hopefully she had time to go home so she wouldn't have to wear the ugly set of spare hospital scrubs in her locker…

Walking out of the bathroom she found an empty bed, but the clanging in the kitchen alerted her that Kakashi must have decided to make a quick breakfast. Oh, she really hoped she had time for that! She glanced at his nightstand expecting to find a clock, but there was none. Hmm.

"Kakashi, what time is it?" she asked as she wandered towards the kitchen.

He glanced up from the pan he was watching to answer quickly.

"About ten, maybe ten-fifteen."

"Um, okay…where's the clock so I can check? I have to be at the hospital at noon…"

Silence.

It suddenly dawned on Sakura that she didn't know where to find a clock in Kakashi's apartment. She walked into the living room, hoping for a wall clock. Or at least a stereo with the time set. And as she wandered back into the kitchen she confirmed that yes, that was an old-fashioned stove without a clock and no, Kakashi didn't own a microwave.

"Kakashi," she tried again, " _Where_ is the _clock_?"

"Hmm. It must be broken. Do you want scrambled or fried eggs?"

That was code for _I don't own a clock_ , she realized.

 _Who didn't own a clock?_ And how had she been in this apartment countless times and never noticed before now?

It dawned on her, the kind of slow realization that she could feel coming as she fit the pieces together, and suddenly she turned to him with a gasp and an accusing finger.

" _You!_ This is the reason! This is the reason _why you're always late!"_

Still Kakashi ignored her, but he _was_ grinning. At least someone was amused.

"I like my eggs scrambled, you know. With just a little bit of cheese."

She stared at him blankly, caught off guard by his diversion.

"That's good I guess? You're the one cooking, why are you telling me?"

He shrugged nonchalantly as he flipped the eggs in the pan with one hand, an impressive show of skill. Cheeky bastard was likely showing off his forearms for her, she thought with a grin.

"I dunno, isn't that the kind of thing girlfriends are supposed to know?"

Sakura was currently trying to filch a piece of toast, but froze momentarily at Kakashi's question.

Girlfriend?

The grin on her lips grew into a full-fledged smile. Of course she knew their relationship was heading in that direction, but it was the first time they had ever ascribed a label to it. There was something incredibly satisfactory about the title. She was Kakashi Hatake's _girlfriend_.

Oh kami.

She was _Kakashi_ _Hatake's_ girlfriend!

Butterflies invaded her stomach, but she fought them to turn to Kakashi as if he hadn't just caught her so off guard. He would have noticed of course, but he was gracious enough to pretend he hadn't.

"Oh, I guess so," Sakura finally replied with a laugh. "I like mine scrambled, too, but hold the cheese."

He glanced at her out of the side of his right eye, and the corner of his mouth quirked up even higher than it already was. With one more flick of the pan he set it down to rest on the stove, before moving to trap her against the counter.

Sakura's back hit the edge of the countertop as he boxed her in, arms coming to rest on either side of her, and he leaned over her with a roguish grin. He dipped his head down and kissed her again, but moved quickly to her neck to pepper kisses there.

"Kakashi!" she laughed as she pushed half-heartedly at his shoulders. "I have to go home to take a shower!"

"I have one of those," he replied quickly between kisses.

"I need to change clothes!"

"You live two minutes away."

"But—paperwork—"

"—Can wait an extra hour."

This time Kakashi looked her in the eye, but his head was bent in in such a way that his hair fell over his eyes and he looked devilishly handsome. She couldn't resist that face. Her hands travelled restlessly over his arms as she struggled to choose. She could stay and still make it to the hospital on time, if she hurried...

She bit her lip and then felt Kakashi's muscles tense under her hands. He was grinning at her like he already knew what she would choose, and the muscles in his forearms flexed again.

"Show off!" she accused, but the smile on her face contradicted her tone. "Fine! I'll stay a little longer."

"Glad I could…twist your arm," he said with a smirk.

She glanced down at his forearms one more time and rolled her eyes. "If only you had kept your damn sleeves down, I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place!"

* * *

The End!

Thank you SO MUCH to every person who has read, favorited, followed, and especially reviewed this story. I am utterly floored by how well it was received and hope you enjoyed some KakaSaku fluff to wrap it up.

I know I fell off the radar for a while, as tends to happen, but I promise I've been writing! This is not the last you'll hear from me. _Of Significance_ isn't going quite the way I envisioned, but I'll still upload several more parts to that story. I have some serious smut in the works, so if that's your cup of tea then please keep an eye out for _Lemonade_. On top of that I have another multi-chapter KakaSaku fic brewing (but I don't want to go into too much detail yet), and as always there are some shorter plot bunnies hopping around that may result in some random one-shots of various pairings and ratings.

Until next time!


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